Naming Trends and
Kinship Terms
This information comes from a lecture given by Marsha Hoffman Rising in
1991

Too often the genealogist focuses
research on those individuals bearing the surname and often only in the
direct line. For this reason, records which may clarify
relationships, "prove" ancestral connections or add evidence
to support a hypothesis can be overlooked. It is important that the
researcher emphasize the family network rather than linking via surname.

This is about finding your family
by early naming practices and studying collateral kin. Since data
regarding the direct line is often not available, you can make the
connections by studying the collateral kin. One of the ways of
finding your collateral kin is by utilizing naming practices.

In the early colonies, the law of
primogeniture was in effect. It is an exclusive right of the
eldest son to inherit the father's estate. To ensure that the eldest son
inherited, in the event the father died intestate, the eldest son was
generally given the same name as his father. The second son was
often given the first name of one of his uncles, generally the father's
oldest brother. Later, families devised their own system to ensure
that their offspring inherited. i.e., giving all children the same
middle name, denoting the fact that all with that name could inherit,
and not just the oldest son.

As many families were very large,
it is possible to find collateral kin, and thus an earlier ancestor by
studying the names of your ancestors siblings.

As stated earlier, the eldest son had
the same name as his father, the second son, the first name of one of
his uncles. (paternal usually, unless the father had no brothers,
then a maternal uncle). The middle name was either his mother's
maiden name, or grandmother's maiden name. Basically, as more
children were born, more maiden names were used, but generally those in
the direct line. Great grandmothers, great great grandmothers,
etc. Interestingly, after the fifth child, there will be names of
famous people. i.e., Joseph Wheeler, Robert E. Lee, etc.

Second generation immigrants often
deviated from the original family names. They often named their
children after local heroes. It is not uncommon for a southern
family to name male children after famous southern political
personalities, such as Robert E. Lee, Francis Marion, Jackson, Jefferson
Davis, etc. However, the following generation often returned to
the names of the previous generation. Therefore, when you find a
generation of "local heroes", don't be discouraged.
Ignore the names and try to concentrate on the more common names.
This will help guide you back to the earlier ancestors.

Women's names follow the same practices
as men's names, but generally follow the maternal line. The eldest
daughter is often named for her maternal grandmother. Once again
maiden names are often used as middle names. Sometimes, if the
family is very large, you will only find one or two of the daughters
with a maiden name as a middle name. Ironically, to find your
female ancestor, you might have to take the first name of the eldest
daughter, and the middle name of the second son.

Another interesting tidbit regarding
women's lines. If you have the marriage record of your ancestor,
and have no information about the wife other than her name, make a note
of the person that married them. Many times the minister who
performed the wedding is a relative. Her name may be different
because she was a widow, thus being referred to by her first husband's
name, instead of her maiden name.

It is often difficult to prove identity
when there are several individuals with the same name. Aside from
analyzing the family through the naming trends, one should attempt to
learn everything about their ancestor; wife, children, children's
spouses, minister, debtors, creditors, occupation, religion, neighbors,
siblings, politics, etc.

Find his neighbors by studying
the description of every parcel of land that he owned. Try to
learn as much about his neighbors as possible.

If you own primary research, assume
this to be true until you find out differently. Reconstruct and
track the lives of the various same name people in question. Study
the people, not just the names you are looking for.

There are some key principles to
remember when researching collateral lines. First, names may
change, particularly with women, but the relationships will remain, no
matter how often the name changes.

The strongest kin ties appear between
women. The most enduring bond occurs between mothers and their
grown daughters. This means that you may find more information by
looking for a different surname than the direct line you are
researching. Ties to the wife's kin are generally stronger than
those to husband's, unless male ties are crucial to the husband's
occupation. It is therefore necessary to learn the occupation of
your ancestor.

Social relationships among kin are not
broken by geographic mobility. This is important because you may
be looking in an area where the records have been destroyed. You
may find your information from one that is geographically removed from
the destruction.

Genealogical organizations and
literature are based on surnames. Too often, female lines are
neglected.

Be sure you understand the meaning of
kinship terms in the period in which you are working. In colonial
times, "in-law" referred to the relationships that we now call
"step".

Terms of Relationship

A stumbling block to the correct
interpretation of genealogical records is that terms used to denote
degrees of relationship sometimes had different meanings than they have
today.

Affinity: relationships which
exist because of marital ties. The contemporary term for these relations
is "in-laws."

Alias: the use of two surnames,
joined by the word "alias" in early American records usually
indicates an illegitimate birth and that the person has joined the
surname of his reputed father to that of his mother. However,
there were other reasons for the adoption of two surnames.
Sometimes when children inherited through their mother, they used both
the father's and the mother's names. Sometimes the name of the
natural father, who had died, was joined to that of a stepfather.
In case of adoption, the original name and the name of the adoptive
parent were sometimes used together.

Augmented family: extension of
nuclear family to include people bound together by law, rather than
blood; e.g. half siblings, adopted children, step-parents, step
siblings, etc.

Aunt: in American society, this
term can refer to a woman in four different relative positions: father's
sister, mother's sister, father's brother's wife, mother's brother's
wife.

Brother: the term
"brother" could indicate any one of the following
relationships by blood or marriage:
1) the husband of one's sister,
2) the brother of one's wife,
3) the husband of one's sister-in-law,
4) a half brother, or
5) a stepbrother.
Sometimes the term brother did not indicate any relationship by blood or
marriage at all, but was used to refer to a brother in the church.

Collateral family: referring to
relatives who are "off to one side" i.e. not in the direct
lineal ancestry, but who share a common ancestor. In western society,
these people are called aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

Consanguinity: refers to persons
who share common descent or biological heritage.

Cousin: very general term in
American society referring to someone with whom you share a common
ancestor. Can refer to a person occupying relationship on either
mother or father's side; may also refer to someone related only by
affinity. If this person is in a different generation, the term
"removed" is used giving the number of generations apart.

Extended family: when families of
more than two generations compose a household or relationship.

Full sibling: one who has the
same biological mother and father (thus the same ancestry) as oneself A
half sibling has one of the same parents (and therefore shares only one
side of the lineage) as oneself.

In-laws: the terms
"father-in-law," "mother-in-law,"
"son-in-law," and "daughter-in-law" have always
indicated a relationship by marriage rather than by blood. When
you find these terms in early American records, they may have the same
meanings we give them today, i.e. the father or mother of one's spouse
and the husband and wife of one's child. But they may also have
very different meanings. In colonial society, this term also
referred to relationships created by the marriage of a parent, currently
called "step" relationships. Thus a "mother-in-law"
in the 17th century, may have been a father's second wife.
"Father-in-law," and "mother-in-law," may refer to a
stepparent and "son-in-law" and "daughter-in-law"
may refer to a stepchild. The terms "brother-in-law" and
"sister-in-law" are more likely to have the same meanings we
give them today. For instance, "brother-in-law" almost
always indicates either a sister's husband or a wife's brother.

"Natural" Son: when the
term "natural" son is used the researcher should not jump to
the conclusion that it denotes an illegitimate relationship. What
it always indicates is a relationship by blood as distinguished from a
relationship by marriage or adoption. In seventeenth century
English wills, it was more common to refer to an illegitimate child as
"my base son" or "my bastard son."

Nephew/Niece: the term nephew
derives from the Latin "Nepos" meaning grandson.
Occasionally an early will refers to the testators grandchildren, both
males and females as "nephews." However, for the most
part the term was used as it is today to mean the son of a brother or
sister and occasionally, the daughter of a brother or sister.

"Now" wife: when this
term is used in a will, it is often assumed that the testator had a
former wife. This may be true but is not necessarily so unless he
refers to children by a first wife and children by his
"present" or "now" wife. When the term is used
without reference to children, it more usually means the testator is
indicating that the bequest is intended only for his present wife and
should not go to any subsequent wife he may have. This is one phrase has
confused many experienced genealogists.

Nuclear family: a family group
consisting of mother, father and dependent children.

Senior/junior: prior to the
nineteenth century it is not safe to assume that the use of the terms
"Senior" and "Junior" refers to a father and son.
The relationship could have been that of an uncle and nephew or of
cousins. Before the use of middle names, it was not uncommon to
have two or more men in a family with identical names. The older
man was known as "Senior" and the younger as
"Junior." A still younger person of the name might use
"3d" following his name. It is important for the
researcher to keep in mind that a man known in his younger years as John
Jones, Jr. may have been known as John Jones, Sr. after the death of the
older man.

Step sibling: one related by
virtue of a parent's marriage to an individual with children by a former
marriage or relationship. While no relation by blood, there can be
strong ties of emotion and tradition between step siblings.

Uncle: in American society this
term can refer to a man in four different relative positions: father's
brother; mother's brother; father's sister's husband; mother's sister's
husband.

Conclusion: too much should not
be built upon casual mention of relationship in early records.
Conclusions about the relationship between any two people must rest on a
preponderance of all of the available evidence.

Checking the Averages

If your research in the pioneering
period (before 1850) has "dead-ended", it's time for creative
thinking. You may find these trends helpful in analyzing your
problems.

There are approximately three
generations per century.

Average age for men to marry was 24.
They rarely married before age 20.

The average age for women to marry
was 20. They rarely married before age 16.

First marriages were usually between
couples near the same age. Women generally outlived their
husbands. But older widowers frequently married much younger
women, who had never been married before.

Births generally occurred at
two-year intervals. Frequently the first child was born a year
after marriage. As a woman aged, the interval between births
grew slightly. Child bearing generally ended around 45.

Families and neighbors usually
migrated together from their old homes. Women rarely traveled
alone.

Men usually married women from their
neighborhood, but if a seemingly "strange" woman turned
up, check the man's former home. Often men returned to their
proper residence to find a wife.

If you can't find an old parent,
chances are he/she "went West" with a son.

If you have a male ancestor born
around 1840, strongly consider Civil War service.

Studies show that after 1850, Ohio
pioneers frequently moved to counties in other states on the same
latitude as their home county in Ohio.

If your ancestor has a virtue name
(e.g. Patience, Silence...), consider a New England heritage.

Children were often named for
grandparents, both male and female.

Frequently middle name or even a
first name was the mother's or grandmother's maiden name, especially
if the name was repeated through several related families.

Naming Chart

Our ancestors often used the following
naming procedure when picking out a name for a new child. This explains
why certain names are very common in a given family line. Watching for
these patterns can help in your genealogy research.